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Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance

Briefings

U.S. Supreme Court Expands Kiobel to Determine Whether the Alien Tort Statute Applies Extraterritorially

6 March 2012

Just days after hearing oral argument in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co., a case involving the question whether corporations can be liable for claims of human rights violations under the Alien Tort Statute (“ATS”), the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the parties to brief the broader question whether the ATS applies extraterritorially at all.
 

The ATS permits non-U.S. citizens to bring civil lawsuits in U.S. courts for violations of the law of nations, and in recent years foreign plaintiffs have brought numerous claims against corporations for allegedly aiding human rights violations by foreign officials and governments.  During oral argument on February 28, 2012, several Justices’ questions appeared to reflect concern regarding not only whether corporations could be civilly liable under the statute, but also whether the U.S. federal courts were an appropriate forum for adjudicating claims by foreign plaintiffs regarding conduct primarily committed by foreign actors in a foreign nation.  In an order issued on March 5, the Court directed the parties to brief the question “whether and under what circumstances the Alien Tort Statute . . . allows courts to recognize a cause of action for violations of the law of nations occurring within the territory of a sovereign other than the United States.”
 

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